I haven’t been to a high school reunion in 39 years. It was my class’ 6th anniversary reunion; we just didn’t have the organization to have a 5th. That’s the way it was with the Fitchburg High School Class of ’72.

The 45th is in October and it seems like a good time to show up, if only to brush up on my small-talk ability to avoid actually saying, “man, you got old.”

The other day on Facebook, a classmate posted that she’s not going. “I wasn’t very popular anyway,” she said.

It was a reminder of the imprint three or four years of our teenage lives make on the next 65 or so. And how we still believe that the “popular” classmates weren’t also quivering masses of insecurity and self-loathing.

We can carry the pain of high school to our graves, or at least to our 45th reunions.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts. He was senior editor of news in the ’90s, ran MPR’s political unit, created the MPR News regional website, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day laments that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.

NewsCut is a blog featuring observations about the news. It provides a forum for an online discussion and debate about events that might not typically make the front page. NewsCut posts are not news stories.